Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli escapes sanction on whereabouts charges

French Federation rules that 53-year-old was not part of “target group” for testers

Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli has escaped sanction on charges of three whereabouts violations in an eighteen-month period, the French Cycling Federation (FFC) has announced. The 53-year-old has successfully argued that she was no longer part of the testing pool of the French anti-doping agency – the Agence Française de Lutte contre le Dopage (AFLD) – and was therefore not required to file her whereabouts information.

The fact that the multiple French, World, and Olympic champion failed to file her whereabouts on two separate occasions in 2010, then was not where she said she would be on a third is irrelevant, the FFC disciplinary committee has ruled.

According to her lawyers, Longo-Ciprelli was part of the FFC testing pool from March 2008; under a French law, introduced in April 14th, 2010, athletes are members of the pool for a period of one year. It was successfully argued that after April 15th, 2010 – after which all three violations took place – the AFLD had failed to inform her that she would still be required for random testing.

Although Longo-Ciprelli was under investigation from early September this year, at no time has she been suspended. The Frenchwoman blamed the pressure of the investigation for her withdrawal from the French national team for the World championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, later in September, but she returned to finish eighth in the Chrono des Nations time trial in mid-October.

The AFLD and International Cycling Union (UCI) have thirty days to appeal the verdict to the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS); while the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has an extra 21 days to file its own appeal.